Sergey Kovalev

Opinion: Sergey Kovalev is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world; I’d argue that in a lot of ways, he’s even slightly underrated, if anything. He is exciting, he’s a puncher, he gets knockouts, but beyond that he’s also a very skilled, very effective boxer.

Isaac Chilemba

Opinion: Isaac Chilemba is a good fighter. Born in Malawi and fighting out of South Africa, the 29-year-old technician has been tested and proven tough repeatedly. And I’d still have him back end of the top 10 at 175 pounds.

HBO will air the fight in the United States, but on tape delay tonight at 10:15 p.m. ET. Our live coverage will begin with the BoxNation broadcast in the United Kingdom at 12:30 p.m. ET. The fight also will air live on Match TV in Russia.

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Round 7:Kovalev, 33, knocked Chilemba down hard in round seven. Kovalev seemed to shift into a higher gear in the 7th round, as he started to really come after Chilemba. Late in the round, Kovalev charged forward and hit Chilemba with a powerful jab followed by a right that hurt Chilemba, causing him to stagger backwards and fall to the canvas.

Round 8: Chilemba was on the verge of being knocked out again in the 8th, as he was clobbered by Kovalev with two hard hooks to the head. Kovalev seemed to take his foot off the gas pedal after the 8th round, as he fought at a slow pace and didn’t seem like he was in a real need to try and finish Chilemba.

Round 12: Unanimous Decision

Full Fight Recap: Kovalev stayed undefeated and retained the WBA (Super), IBF and WBO light heavyweight championships with a 12-round unanimous decision over the nails-tough Chilemba on Monday at the DIVS Sports Palace in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Scores were 117-110, 116-111 and 118-109, all for the “Krusher,” who improved to 30-0-1 (26 KOs).